iiiiiiiiiiiiii' 



OF 



^2!^Git 



00 01 



ooi 



Ess 



ios 



.'■< '-i-. 









'\- ,<S'' 



fx. -? 



o^ "<', 



.. ,,^^^ 



.^^ 



~ .A 









rO- 



^<V. v^^ 



vO< 



OO" 



..H 



-y>.V 



"bo^ 






,0 0. 






•^c 



= 0' 



A^ ■''^ 



.V^^' 



vV- .v>.^ 






o 

<-5 f.. 



•"■■s- ,<^' 



•J- <» 



^- .0, 






,iV </■■„ 



..^^ 



-5:. 



%. 






-^o^ 



.^i- -n^ 



x^^"^^. 



s^^ ■'' 









X 


.^^ 








%. 




"o 


0^ 






'/ 


^^ 


■%. 







"^^ v^' 



*> ^c^. 



,\. .r. 



,^> -^-K 









A^-^ ■%, 



y 



.0 0. 









"^^. v-^^ 



' .0 



^ -U 









^^ ^^^ 






S -^z- 






■N'^' 



>■ -J: 



,^<' '■.: 



t^ c^' 



,0 0, 



v-^- 






\<- 






,0o. 



O 



,0o. 



^^> -%. 




X 



(^ 



■■J 



• JW J 



U-n'|-f-£d 0+-7\+es. . DficlsriTsri+io-ii of inda- 



THE 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

1776; 



AND 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS 



TO THE 



PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
1790. 





BOSTOI^: 
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL. 

18 7 6. 



.7> 



X^y • Va^ . \rv\/ f 



BOSTON/" 



m 



V - 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES 
RESPECTING "A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES 
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS AS- 
SEMBLED." 

IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES. 

Saturday, June 8, 1776. 

Resolved, That the resolutions respecting independency be referred 
to a committee of the whole Congress. 

The Congress then resolved itself into a committee of the whole ; 
and, after some time, the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Har- 
rison reported, that the committee have taken into consideration the 
matter to them referred, but not having come to any resolution 
thereon, directed him to move for leave to sit again on Monday. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, on Monday next, at 10 o'clock, 
resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further 
consideration the resolutions referred to them. 



4 DECLARATION OF I \ D ETE ND E N CE. 

Monday, June 10, 1776. 

Agreeably to order, the Congress resolved itself into a committee 
of the whole, to take into their further consideration the resolutions 
to them referred ; and, after some time spent thereon, the President 
resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee 
have had nnder consideration the matters referred to them, and have 
come to a resolution thereon, which they directed him to re[)ort. 
The resolution agreed to in committee of the whole being read, 
Resolved, That the consideration of the tirst resolution be post- 
poned to Monday, the first day of July next; and, in the meanwhile, 
that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a 
committee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the elfect of the 
said tirst resolution, which is in these words: "That these United Col- 
onies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown ; and 
that all political connection between them and the State of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 



Tuesday, June 11, 1776. 

Resolved, That the committee, for preparing the Declaration, con- 
sist of live: — The members chosen, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. John Adams, 
Ml'. Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. 11. 11. Livingston. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. O 

Monday, July 1, 1776. 

The order of the day being read, 

Resolved, That this Congress \vill resolve itself into a committee 
of the whole, to take into consideration the Kesolution respecting 
independence. 

That the Declaration be referred to said committee. 

The Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole. After 
some time the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, 
that the committee had come to a Resolution, which they desired him 
to report, and to move for leave to sit again. 

The Resolution agreed to by the committee of the whole being 
read, the determination thereof was, at the request of a colony, post- 
poned until to-morrow. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, resolve itself into a 
committee of the whole, to take into consideration the Declaration 
respecting independence. 

Tuesday, July 2, 1776. 

The Congress resumed the consideration of the Resolution reported 
from the committee of the whole ; which was agreed to as 

FOLLOWS : 

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to 



() DECLAEATION OF IXDEPENDENCE. 

BE, Free and independent States ; that tiiey are absolved from all alle- 
giance TO THE British crown, and that all political connection between 
them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally 
dissolved. 

Agreeably to tlie order of the day, the Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole; and, after some time, the President 
resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee 
have had under consideration the Declaration to them referred • but, 
not having had time to go through the same, desired him to move 
for leave to sit again. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again resolve itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further consider- 
ation the Declaration respecting independence. 



Wednesday, July 3, 1776. 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into 
a committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration 
the Declaration ; and, after some time, the President resumed the 
chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee, not having yet 
gone through it, desired leave to sit again. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again resolve itself 
into a committee of the w^hole, to take into their further consideration 
the Declaration of Independence. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. < 

Thursday, July 4, 1776. 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further consider- 
ation the Declaration ; and after some time the President resumed 
the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee had agreed 
to a Declaration, which they desired him to report. 

The Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows : 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. 

ttdl ill the course of liiimau events it 
becomes necessary for one peoj^le to dis- 
solve tlie political bands which have coii- 
q) nected them with another, and to assume 
among the x^owers of the earth the separate and 
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of 
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare 
the causes which impel them to the sei^aration. 




8 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
their Creator ^\'itll certain unalienable Eights ; that 
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
Happiness ; that to secure these rights. Govern- 
ments are instituted among ]Men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed ; that 
whenever any Form of Government becomes destruc- 
tive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to 
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Govern- 
ment, laying its foundation on such princii)les and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long 
established should not l^e changed for light and 
transient causes ; and accordingly all exj^erience hath 
shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer 
while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves 
by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
tomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, x)ursuing invariably the same object, 



DECLARATION OF IXD ETEND EN CE. 9 

evinces a design to reduce tlieni under absolute 
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to 
throw oif such Government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been 
the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such 
is now the necessity Avhich constrains them to alter 
their former Systems of Government. The history 
of the present King of Great Britain is a history 
of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having 
in direct object the establishment of an absolute 
Tyranny over these States. To lU'ove this, let 
Facts be submitted to a candid world : 

He has refused his Assent to Laws the most whole- 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of 
immediate and pressing importance, unless sus- 
pended in their operation till his Assent should be 
so obtained ; and when so suspended, he has 
utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommo- 



10 DECLARATION OF IXDEPENDENCE. 

elation of large districts of people, unless those 
l)eople Avould relinquish the right of Representa- 
tion in the Legislature — a right inestimable to 
them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
imusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the 
depository of their Public Records, for the sole 
l)ur})ose of fatiguing them into compliance with 
his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, 
for opi)Osing with manly firmness his invasions 
on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time after such disso- 
lutions, to cause others to be elected ; Avhereby the 
Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have 
returned to the People at large for their exercise ; 
the State remaining* in the mean time exposed to 
all the dangers of invasion from without, and 
convulsions Avithin. 

He has endeavoured to i^revent the population of 
these States ; for that purpose obstructing the Laws 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 11 

for Xaturalization of Foreigners ; refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migrations hither, and 
raising the conditions of new Appropriations of 
Lands. 
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by 
refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judi- 
ciary Powers. 

« 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone 
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount 
and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent 
hither swarms of Officers to hai-ass our people, and 
eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing 
Ai'inies, Avithout the Consent of our Legislatures. 

He has affiscted to render the Mihtary independent of, 
and superior to, the Civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and un- 
acknowledged by our laws ; giving his Assent to 
their Acts of pretended Legislation, 



12 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

for quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us ; 

for protecting tliem by a mock Trial from pun- 
ishment for any Murders which they should 
commit on the Inhabitants of these States ; 

for cutting off our trade with all parts of the 
^^'orld ; 

for imposing Taxes on us without our Consent ; 

for depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits 
of Trial l)y Jury ; 

for transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for 
pretended offences ; 

for abolishing the free System of English Laws 
in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein 
an Arbitrary Government, and enlarging its 
Boundaries so as to render it at once an 
example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same a])solute rule into these Colonies ; 

for taking away our Charters, abolishing our most 
A^aluable I^aws, and altering fundamentally the 
forms of our Governments ; 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 13 

for suspending" our own Legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested Avitli power to legislate 
for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us 
out of his Protection and waging Avar against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged om- coasts, 
burnt om- towns, and destroyed the lives of our 
X^eople. 

He is at this time transj^orting large Armies of 
foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, 
desolation juid tyranny, already begun with circum- 
stances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled 
in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy 
the Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive 
on the high Seas to bear Arms against their 
Country, to become the executioners of their 
friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by 
their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and 
has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of 



14 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

our frontiers the merciless Indian Savages, whose 
known rule (^f warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions We have 
Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. 
Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by 
repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus 
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, 
is unfit to l)e the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to 
our British l)rethren. We have warned them from 
time to time of attempts b)^ their legislature 
to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
We have reminded thein of the circumstances of 
our emigration and settlement here. We have 
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them by the ties of our 
common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which 
would inevitably interrupt our connections and cor- 
resi^ondence. They too have been deaf to the 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 15 

voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, 
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces 
our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest 
of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. 

We, therefore, the Eepresentatives of the UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress as- 
sembled, appealing" to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the 
Name and by authority of the good People of these 
Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these 
United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE 
AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are ab- 
solved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the 
State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dis- 
solved; and that as Free and Independent States, 
they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, 
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all 
other Acts and Things which Independent States may 
of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, 
with a firm reliance on the protection of DIVINE 



16 



DECLARATION OF I N 1)P]PP:N DEXC E. 



PROVIDENCE, Ave mutually pledge to each other 
our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed, 
and signed by the following members : — 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



Neic Hampshire. 

Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

Connecticut. 

Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

Rhode Island. 

Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 



Massachusetts Bay. 

Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 



Neio York. 

William Floyd, 
Philip Livingstone, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



17 



New Jersey. 

Richard Stockton, 
John AVitherspoon, 
Francis Hoi:>kinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 



Maryland. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll, of Car- 
rollton. 



Pennsylvania. 

Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Belaioare. 

Caesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 



Virginia. 

George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, jun., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. 

William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 



18 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



South Carolina. 

Edward Kutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, jun., 
Thomas Lynch, jmi., 
Arthur Middleton. 



Georgia. 

Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



Resolved, That copies of the Dechiration be sent to the several 
assemblies, conventions, and committees, or councils of safety, and to 
the several commanding officers of the continental troops ; that it be 
proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of the 
army. 



w 
o 

w 
p 

2; 

cu 
w 
p 

z 



(I, 
o 

.z 
o 

I— ( 

h 

<^ 

<: 
o 

X 
h 

O 

w 

I— I 

I 

o 

< 



o 
o 

^^ 

p 

o 
p 

p 
til 








i" 



■1 r^.^^ 5 nfl-ki^^^i iH 







^ 






ill 1 til H HI ^^^ 



<!^^ 

>*«^ 



^3. 



^ 



t^ J 



t^ J r- ^^1 P 4^.^^ >^ 



■o N 



« 



■r^ 



4-Htr 



^f^ > ^ 3 






a 




I 



S 







4 i 








FAC-SIMILE 



ORIGINAL DRAFT 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 



IN THE HANDWRITING OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, WITH THE 

CORRECTIONS AS MADE BY JOHN ADAMS AND^ 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, NOW ON FILE IN 

THE PATENT OFFICE AT 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 



OF /4M ERICA ^-^ G^o-r^iyy-^Ji Cr>^^y,^eSS a^Je-rrj/^. 

f ^/^ ,,, ( ^ |||| . | i-Y^ .. ^ "ii II / II I ^ I ^ ..rf....l. i}'i,,jj i^, , , , ^' ,'V , ,,^ 'f,.,, i.: rfiiiMiiniiAi l , %f^ A-^ 



d 



Xj{u^ iyyy^>f>^ HLt^^ i^ji^sdalsaB:^ .^ep^'^'^-aX^.^rrv. 

- ^.^'^^v.rT^.^rOO *./>^ i^r^^kdUcL O^rr^jrr^ nnr.^ , dt^r^n^r^ /W^^-v<^ f>tn^^y<l f>^^^ 

JU/yr. 'rrx,*-*^ tAxic^ to ^-fft^ H^ju^ J 1.^^ ¥ 'kx^ppr<yrji.^J . ^ry\jult^ts.<jt. ^rx^^iUt^ 

yLc^UX TTK-Vr^^^ tM^--c^ l^ cJi-^-tiyjki/r^ rfUy Jcy-n^ to u/k-ccA^ -^^^-^ ayy-C ayC-c^.o/-irtr\u^ (nAyt 

' J t ■ I n i- - -t- ' 7 4 ■ - "'^•<'-^*^'^ 



, ixA.'nd ^t'^'j 








(end Of n' rhat) 






t<-<^ Cyeo-c 






c<^cp-.:,^ t,c^iL cU.ny^ j c^r^^cc^^^ '-^nyHiruTt^fc.,.,,,,^^,^^ cn^/^.. 



TO^^-'-cyrv 






^M * I tf I III i<- X y-/?&, ^ y A^ 

lilfj.y&^-Ca^^^^'eni^ ^ J<rr QL/ijCK/r^</^-iynjQ Ca/r&a^ inxiL.-e^ c/1 ayr-meJ i/t-^rap-n ouyy^.^o-)^ d<^ 



<^\jt^ 



jtn-^Ci^lXA-^y^A /r\^.^Tr\. in^ O- '^■r\xn:Ju-~Crxa£^ rrv^ir^ r^XAyr\A^k/7r\jUr\X j^ri- oi^r\M 'rritiyhck^ 



u/H-c^^ 



^Icrr <U,t^<--y\f (i)finA/> Vrtk^cU. Vony/K aSJi p-txy^rtd </! rkiL- luyryy^ ^ 
1^ i/ry-^CrVo'rsjrCfUX.e^ crri. u^ 'UtiMx-ctxaX' tTT-o-r- am^ e,^^ ■ 



(ENDOFaePAGE), 



'-c<-^ 



itry-^«^/X3-ruLyr\J (rurr <n-t/>v «<W^aA*'T^i^ ^ djuXo-^HA^ /Ktyry^tLj^ cmuj-e^U^ ujwfry. f3-enJtJ-eyY ^ 
Qa.^J<-^ ell crvo^ p-^-oyr^: 
JCXA^-CLjl)i/) \Jr\yO-i-C^ /<iyyvyy\J'^y^ -t-lyJuL. dj urou^pky^-i- <-^ *>^>^ lyiyrr^l^^ Kyt\nj^iyO^ KjL* -d^^rrL-c^-LXTr^ sV 




F 35 PAGE) 



'vji^JUy-^ y\-S^N jkxruJLdL L^ i-o-^A.xAjjy Jo2^L Ll- ^ux^ p-y^raliJ-uJ-coL ixy^ 'r\^.O..^itc<jLj,^ 
tAUJk ru, uyry^ f^y^t/nr^ta (^crrr^^yy^^ «j,»L.t^>v-*-t M^ U-t^-t<j c^ a^'r^^Ai.vy^ 

W-ay)r-i\4^ '/Kt^yn, ^~yxm\ ^-i^n^-Jt- ^ u^rr-ue. ty (xCoeyrriJ^yCd [rx^- / A6^,^ tx^A.,^\^Jxjyi.x^ lc e-acA-c^t-^ ix. U.<yy-L^. 
oi(yr e. rr^iAYYXxXA^cm. C^ J eXCLt^muyn^X ry^^X- ^nyc <rrJL dJ uOxjucJ^ octuJLgL woyy-nx^rJL Jo ty^tciyy^aju ct 



■x^- 



/ 



kxXAj-^ i-^ rku^ l^^^j^ e£c<XcO>^ l-e -CaUUr^ 'kuli f-?L.^yr^ o^ ^^rn<J~&^. ajt M-t^ t-^5->^ Z^/r^Li. 2^tJ /Ct^ 
CLfy^y^^-'r^- Z^-^. -rii^= ..^^(f ^W . / ^ /• y '^- 



' a. c.*rt^^rrx<^ 



(ENO or *V PACF.J 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 



Friends and Fellow-Citizens : 

lie period for a new election of a citizen 
to administer the Executive Government of 
g'^^ tlie United States being- not far distant, and 
the time actually arrived when your thoughts 
must be employed in designating the person who is 
to be clothed Avith that important trust, it appears to 
me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more 
distinct expression of the public voice, that I should 
now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, 
to decline being considered among the number of 
those out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg vou, at the same time, to do me the 



22 



WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 



justice to be assured that this resohition has not 
been taken without a strict regard to all the con- 
siderations appertaining" to the relation which binds 
a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that, in with- 
drawing the tender of service, which silence, in 
my situation, might imijly, I am influenced by no 
diminution of zeal for your future interest ; no 
deficiency of grateful respect for your j)ast kindness ; 
but am supported by a full conviction that the step 
is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, 
the office to which your suffrages have twice called 
me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to 
the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what 
appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped 
that it would have been much earlier in my power, 
consistently with motives which I am not at liberty 
to disregard, to return to that retirement from 
which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength 
of my inclination to do this, previous to the last 
election, had even led to the preparation of an 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 23 

address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection 
on the then perplexed and critical posture of our 
aifairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous 
advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled 
me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external 
as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit 
of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of 
duty or propriety ; and am persuaded, whatever 
partiality may be retained for my services, that, in 
the present circumstances of our country, you will 
not disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions wdth wdiicli I first undertook the 
arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. 
In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that 
I have with good intentions contributed towards the 
organization and administration of the Government 
the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment 
was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the 
inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in my 
own eyes — perhaps still more in the eyes of others 



24 WASIIIXTrTON'S FAREAVELL ADDRESS. 

— lias strengthened the motives to diffidence of 
myself ; and every day the increasing weight of 
years admonishes me, more and more, that the 
shade of retirement is as necessarj^ to me as it 
will l)e welcome. Satisfied that if any circum- 
stances have given peculiar value to my services, 
they were temporary, I have the consolation to 
believe that, while choice and prudence invite me 
to quit the political scene, patriotism does not 
forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is 
intended to terminate the career of my pul)lic life, 
my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep 
acknowledgment of that del)t of gratitude which I 
owe to my beloved country for the many honors it 
has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast 
confidence with which it has supported me ; and for 
the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting 
my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and 
persevering, though in usefulness unecpial to my zeal. 
If benefits have resulted to our country from these 



WASHINGTON'S FAREAVELL ADDRESS. 25 

services, let it always be remembered to your praise, 
and as an instructive example in our annals, that, 
under circumstances in which the passions, agitated 
in every direction, were liable to mislead; amidst ap- 
pearances sometimes dubious, Aicissitudes of fortune 
often discouraging ; in situations in which, not un- 
frequently, want of success has countenanced the spirit 
of criticism, — the constancy of your support Avas the 
essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the 
plans, by AAdiich they were effected. Profoundly pene- 
trated AAith this idea, I shall carry it Avith me to my 
grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing voavs, that 
Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of 
its beneficence ; that your union and lirotherly affec- 
tion may be perpetual ; that the free Constitution, 
AAdiich is the work of your hands, may be sacredly 
maintained ; that its administration, in every depart- 
ment, may be stamped Avith wisdom and virtue ; that, 
in fine, the haj^piness of the people of these States, 
under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, 
by so careful a preserA^ation and so prudent a use of 



26 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 



this blessing' as will acquire to them the glory of 
reconiniendiiig it to the applause, the affection, and 
the adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger 
to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop ; but a solicitude 
for your welfare, wdiich cannot end but Avith my 
life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that 
solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, 
to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to 
recommend to your frecpient review, some senti- 
ments, which are the result of much reflection, of 
no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to 
me all-important to the permanency of your felicity 
as a people. These will be afforded to you with 
the more freedom, as you can only see in them the 
disinterested w^arnings of a i^arting friend, who can 
possibly have no personal motive to bias his coun- 
sel ; nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, 
your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a 
former and not dissimilar occasion. 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 27 

Intenvoven as is the love of liberty with every 
ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine 
is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of government, which constitutes you 
one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly 
so ; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your 
real independence — the support of your tranquillity 
at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your 
prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly 
prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from 
different causes and from different quarters, much 
pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to 
weaken in your minds the conviction of- this truth ; 
as this is the point in your i)olitical fortress against 
which the batteries of internal and external enemies 
will be most constantly and actively (though often 
Covertly and insidiously) directed, — it is of infinite 
moment that you should properly estimate the 
immense value of your national union to your 
collective and individual ha|)})iness ; that you should 
cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment 



28 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDEESS. 

to it ; accustoming yourselves to think and speak 
of it as of tlie palladium of your i)olitical safety 
and i)rosperity ; watching for its preservation with 
jealous anxiety ; discountenancing- whatever may sug- 
gest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be 
abandoned ; juid indignantly frowning upon the first 
dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion 
of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the 
sacred ties which now link together the various 
parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy 
and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a com- 
mon country, that country has a right to concentrate 
your affections. The name of American, which belongs 
to you in your national capacity, must always exalt 
the just pride of patriotism, more than any appel- 
lation derived from local discriminations. With slight 
shades of difference, you have the same religion, 
manners, habits, and political principles. You have, 
in a common cause, fought and triumphed together ; 
the independence and liberty you possess are the 



WASHINGTON'S FAEEAVELL ADDRESS. 29 

work of joint counsels and joint efforts, of common 
dangers, sufferings, and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they 
address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly 
outweighed by those which apply more immediately 
to your interest ; here every portion of our country 
finds the most commanding motives for carefully 
guarding and preserving the union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the 
South, protected by the equal laws of a common 
government, finds, in the productions of the latter, 
great additional resources of maritime and commercial 
enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing 
industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefit- 
ing by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture 
grow, and its commerce expand. Turning partly into 
its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds 
its particular navigation invigorated ; and while it 
contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase 
the general mass of the national navigation, it looks 
forward to the protection of a maritime strength to 



30 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

Avliicli itself is iiiieqiially adapted. The East, in like 
intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the 
l^rogressive improvement of interior connnunication, 
by land and Avater, will more and more find, a Yalu- 
able vent for the commodities which it brings from 
abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives 
from the East supplies requisite to its growth and 
comfort ; and what is perliax:>s of still greater 
consequence, it must, of necessity, owe the secure 
enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own pro- 
ductions, to the weight, infiuence, and the future 
maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, 
directed by an indissolul)le community of interest as 
one nation. Any other tenure by wdiich the West 
can hold this essential advantage, whether derived 
from its own separate strength, or from an apostate 
and unnatural connection with any foreign power, 
must be intrinsically precarious. 

While, then every part of our country thus feels 
an immediate and particular interest in union, all the 
parts combined cannot fail to find, in the united 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 31 

mass of means and efforts, greater streng'tli, greater 
resource, proportionably greater security from external 
danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace 
by foreign nations ; and what is of inestimable 
value, they nnist derive from union an exemption 
from those broils and wars betAveen themselves, which 
so frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied 
together by the same government ; which their own 
rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but 
which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and 
intrigues, w^ould stimulate and imbitter. Hence, like- 
wise, they will avoid the necessity of those over- 
grown military establishments, which, under any form 
of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and wdiich 
are to be regarded as iDarticularly hostile to repub- 
lican liberty ; in this sense it is that your union 
ought to be considered as a main prop of your 
liberty, and that the love of the one ought to 
endear to you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language 
to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit 



32 



WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDEESS. 



the continuance of the Union as a primary object 
of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a 
common g-OAcrnment can eml)race so large a sphere? 
Let experience solve it. To listen to mere specu- 
lation, in such a case, \vere criminal. We are 
authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the 
whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for 
the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue 

to the experiment. It is well w^ortli a fair and 
full experiment. With such powerful and ol)vious 

motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, 
while experience shall not have demonstrated its im- 
practicability, there will always be reason to distrust 
the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may 
endeavor to weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb 
our Union, it occurs, as a matter of serious concern, 
that any ground should have been furnished for 
characterizing parties by geographical discriminations 
— Northern and Southern — Atlantic and Western : 
whence designing men may endeavor to excite a 



WASHINGTON'S FAREAVELL ADDRESS. 33 

belief that there is a real difference of local interests 
and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire 
influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent 
the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot 
shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and 
heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresen- 
tations ; they tend to render alien to each other 
those who ought to be bound together by fraternal 
affection. The inhabitants of our western countrv 
have lately had a useful lesson on this head ; they 
have seen in the negotiation by the Executive, and 
in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the 
treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction 
at that event throughout the United States, a de- 
cisive i^roof how unfounded were the suspicions 
propagated among them, of a policy in the General 
Government, and in the Atlantic States, unfriendly 
to their interests in regard to the Mississippi : 
they have been Avitnesses to the formation of two 
treaties — that with Great Britain, and that with 
Spain, wdiich secure to them -everything they could 



34 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 



desire in respect to our foreign relations, towards 
confirming their i)rosi)erity. Will it not be their 
wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advan- 
tages on the Union by which they were procured? 
Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, 
if such there are, who would sever them from their 
brethren, and connect them with aliens '? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, 
a, Government for the whole is indispensable. No 
alliance, however strict between the parts, can be an 
adequate substitute ; they must inevitably experience 
the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, 
in all time, have experienced. Sensible of this 
momentous truth, you have improved upon your first 
essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Govern- 
ment better calculated than your former for an 
intimate Union, and for the efficacious management 
of your common concerns. This Government, the 
offspring of our ow^i choice, uninfiuenced and 
unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature 
deliberation, comi^letely free in its principles, in 



WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 35 

the distribution of its powers, uniting security with 
energj , and containing within itself a provision for 
its own amendment, lias a just claim to your con- 
fidence and your support. Respect for its authority, 
compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its 
measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental 
maxims of true liberty. The bases of our political 
systems, is the right of the people to make and to 
alter their constitutions of Government : but the Con- 
stitution which at any time exists, till changed by 
an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, 
is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the 
poAver, and the right of the people to establish 
Government, presupposes the duty of every indi- 
vidual to obey the established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all 
combinations and associations, under whatever plaus- 
ible character, with the real design to direct, control, 
counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and 
action of the constituted authorities, are destructive 
to this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. 



3G WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 

They serve to organize faction, to give it an arti- 
ficial and extraordinary force, to i:>ut in the place 
of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a 
party, often a small but artful and enterprising 
minority of the community ; and, according to the 
alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the 
public administration the mirror of ill-concerted and 
incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ 
of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by com- 
mon counsels, and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the 
above description may now and then answer popular 
ends, they are likely, in the course of time and 
things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, 
ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to 
subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for 
themselves the reins of Government ; destroying, 
afterwards, the very engines which had lifted them 
to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your Government, 
and the permanency of your present happy state, 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 37 



it is requisite, not only that you steadily discoun- 
tenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged 
authority, but also that you resist with care the 
si^irit of innovation upon its principles, however 
specious the pretexts. One method of assault may 
be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alter- 
ations which will impair the energy of the system, 
and thus to undermine what cannot be directly 
overthrown. In all the changes to which you may 
be invited, remember that time and habit are 
at least as necessary to fix the true character of 
governments as of other human institutions ; that 
experience is the surest standard by which to test 
the real tendency of the existing constitution of a 
country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit of 
mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual 
change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and 
opinion ; and remember, especially, that for the 
efficient management of your common interests, in 
a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as 
much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security 



38 WASHIXGTOX'S FAREWELL ADDEESS. 

of liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find 
in such a Government, with powers properly dis- 
tributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, 
indeed, little else tlian a name, where the Govern- 
ment is too feeble to A^ithstand the enterprises of 
faction, to confine each member of the society 
within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to 
mahitain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment 
of the rights of person and property. 

I have alreadv intimated to vou the danger of 
parties hi the State, with particular reference to the 
founding of them on geographical discriminations. 
Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and 
warn you. in the most solemn manner, against the 
baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from om- 
nature, having its root in the strongest jDassions of 
the human mind. It exists under different shapes, in 
all Governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or 
rei)ressed; but in those of the popular form it is 
seen in its greatest ranloiess, and is truly their worst 
enemv. 



AVASHIXGTOX'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 39 

The alternate domination of one faction over 
another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural 
to party dissension, which, in different ages and 
countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, 
is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads, at 
length, to a more formal and permanent despotism. 
The disorders and miseries which result, "-ra dually 
incline the minds of men to seek security and repose 
in the absolute power of an indiyidual ; and, sooner 
or later, the chief of some i^reyailing friction, more 
able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns 
this disposition to the purposes of his ovm eleyation 
on the ruins of i)ublic liberty. 

Without lookino' forward to an extremity of this 
kind (which, neyertheless, ought not to be entirely 
out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs 
of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the 
interest and duty of a wise people to discourage 
and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, 
and enfeeble the public aduiinistration. It agitates 



40 WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 

the community with ill-founded jealousies and false 
alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part against 
another ; foments, occasionally, riot and insurrection. 
It opens the door to foreign influence and corrup- 
tion, which find a facilitated access to the Govern- 
ment itself, through the channels of party passions. 
Thus the policy and the will of one country are 
subjected to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion that parties, in free countries, 
are useful checks ui)on the administration of the 
Goyernment, and serve to keep alive the spirit of lib- 
erty. This, within certain limits, is probably true ; 
and in Governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism 
may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon 
the spirit of party. But in those of the j^opular 
character, in Governments purely elective, it is a 
spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural 
tendency, it is certain there will always be enough 
of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there 
being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to 
be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and 



AVASIIINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 41 

assuage it. A fire not to be queiiclied, it demands 
a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a 
flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of 
thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution 
in those intrusted with its administration, to confine 
themselves within their respective constitutional 
spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers 
of one department, to encroach upon another. The 
spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the 
powers of all the departments in one, and thus to 
create, whatever the form of Government, a real 
despotism. A just estimate of that love of poAver, 
and proneness to abuse it which predominates in the 
human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth 
of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks 
in the exercise of political power, by dividing and 
distributing it into different depositories, and con- 
stituting each the guardian of the public weal, 
against invasions by the others, has been evinced 
by experiments, ancient and modern ; some of them 



42 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

ill our own country, and under our own eyes. To 
preserve them must be as necessary as to institute 
tliem. If, in the opinion of the peoj)le, the distri- 
bution or modification of the constitutional powers 
be, in any x^^^i'ticnlar, wrong, let it be corrected by 
an amendment in the way which the Constitution 
designates. But let there be no change by usurpa- 
tion ; for though this, in one instance, may be the 
instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by 
which free Governments are destroyed. The prece- 
dent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent 
evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use 
can, at any time, yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to 
political prosperity, religion and morality are indis- 
pensable supports. In vain would that man claim 
the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to 
subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these 
firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. 
The mere politician, equally with the pious man, 
ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 43 

could not trace all their connections with private and 
public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the 
security for property, for reputation, for life, if the 
sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which 
are the instruments of investigation in courts of 
justice? And let us with caution indulge the sup- 
position, that morality can be maintahied without 
religion. WhatCA^er may be conceded to the influence 
of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, 
reason and experience both forbid us to expect 
that national morality can prevail in exclusion of 
religious principles. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is 
a necessary spring of popular Government. The 
rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to 
every species of free Government, Who, that is a 
sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon 
attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric '? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary im- 
X^ortance, institutions for the general diffusion of 
knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a 



44 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

Government gives force to public opinion, it is 
essential that iniblic opinion should be enlightened. 
As a very important source of strength and 
security, cherish ijublic credit. One method of 
preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible ; 
avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating i^eace, 
but remembering also that timely disbursements to 
prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater 
disbursements to repel it ; avoiding, likewise, the 
accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occa- 
sions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time 
of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable 
wars may have occasioned ; not ungenerously throw- 
ing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves 
ouo-ht to l)ear. The execution of these maxims 
belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary 
that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate 
to them the performance of their duty, it is essen- 
tial that you should practically bear in mind, that 
towards the payment of debts there must be 
revenue ; that to have revenue there must be 



WASHINGTON'S FAREAVELL ADDRESS. 45 

taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not 
more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the 
intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selec- 
tion of the proper objects (which is always a choice 
of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a 
candid con>>itruction of the conduct of the Govern- 
ment in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence 
in the measures for obtaining revenue, wdiicli the 
public exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all 
nations ; cultivate x^eace and harmony with all ; 
religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can 
it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it ? 
It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no 
distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind 
the magnanimous and too novel example of a people 
always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. 
AYlio can doubt that, in the course of time and 
things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay 
any temporary advantages which might be lost by 
a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Provi- 



■iG WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

dence lias not connected the permanent felicity of 
a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, 
is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles 
human nature. Alas ! is it rendered impossible by 
its vices V 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more 
essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies 
against particular nations, and passionate attachments 
for others, should be excluded ; and that, in place 
of them, just and amicable feelings tow^ards all 
should be cultivated. The nation which indulges 
towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual 
fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave 
to its animosity or to its affection; either of which 
is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its 
intei'est. Antipathy in one nation against another, 
disposes each more readily to offer insult and 
injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, 
and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental 
or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence fre- 
quent collisions, obstinate, envemoned, and bloody 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. ^i 

contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and 
resentment, sometimes impels to war the Govern- 
ment, contrary to the best calculations of policy. 
The Government sometimes participates in the 
national propensity, and adopts, through passion, 
wdiat reason w^ould reject ; at other times it makes 
the animosity of the nation subservient to projects 
of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other 
sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, 
sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been 
the victim. 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one 
nation to another produces a variety of evils. Sym- 
pathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion 
of an imaginary common interest, in cases where 
no real common interest exists, and infusing into 
one the enmities of the other, betrays the former 
into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the 
latter, wdthout adequate inducement or justification. 
It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation 
of i)rivileges denied to others, which is apt doubly 



48 WASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 

to injure the nation making the concessions ; by 
unnecessarily parting with what ought to have 
been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and 
a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom 
equal privileges are withheld ; and it gives to 
ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who 
devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility 
to betray, or sacrifice the interest of their own 
country, without odium ; sometimes even with 
popularity ; gilding with the appearance of a vir- 
tuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference 
for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public 
good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, 
corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable 
ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to 
the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How 
many opportunities do they afford to tamper with 
domestic factions, to practise the art of seduction, 
to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the 
l)ublic councils ! Such an attachment of a small 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 49 

or weak, towards a g-reat and powerful nation, 
dooms the former to be tlie satellite of the 
latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence 
(I conjure you to believe me, felloAv-citizens) the 
jealousy of a free people ought to be constanfJfj 
aw^ake ; since history and experience prove that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes 
of republican Government. But that jealousy, to 
be useful, must be imi^artial ; else it becomes the 
instrument of the very influence to be avoided, 
instead of a defence against it. Excessive i^artiality 
for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for 
another, cause those whom they actuate to see 
danger only on one side, and serve to Aeil, and 
even second, the arts of influence on the other. 
Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the 
favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious ; 
wdiile its tools and dupes usurp the applause and 
confidence of the peoi)le, to surrender their 
interests. 



50 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDEESS. 



The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to 
foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial 
relations, to have with them as little political con- 
nection as possible. So far as w^e have already 
formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with 
perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to 
us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence 
she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the 
causes of Avhich are essentially foreign to our con- 
cerns. Hence, therefore, it nnist be unwise in us to 
implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary 
vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combi- 
nations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and 
enables us to pursue a different course. If we 
remain one people, under an efficient Government, 
the period is not far ofl' when w^e may defy material 
injury from external annoyance ; when we may take 
such an attitude as will cause the neutrality w^e 
may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 51 

respected ; when belligerent nations, under the im- 
possibility of making' acquisitions upon us, will not 
lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we 
may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by 
justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a 
situation ? why quit our own to stand upon foreign 
ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with 
that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace 
and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, 
rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of perma- 
nent alliances with any portion of the foreign 
world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to 
do it ; for let me not be understood as capable of 
l^atronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I 
hold the maxim no less aj^plicable to public than 
to private affairs, that honesty is always the best 
policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements 
be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my 
opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to 
extend them. 



52 AVASIIINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suit- 
able establishments, on a res^^ectable defensive 
posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances 
for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all 
nations, are recommended by policy, Inimanity, and 
interest. But even our commercial policy should 
hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking 
nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ; con- 
sulting the natural course of things ; diffusing and 
diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of com- 
merce, but forcing nothing ; establishing, with powers 
so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, 
to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable 
the Government to support them, conventional rules 
of intercourse, the best that present circumstances 
and mutual opinions will permit, but temporary, and 
liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, 
as experience and circumstances shall dictate ; con- 
stantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one 
nation to look for disinterested favors from another; 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 53 

that it must pay, with a portion of its independence, 
for Avliatever it nmj accept under that character ; 
that by such acceptance it may place itself in the 
condition of liaving given equivalents for nominal 
favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude 
for not giving more. There can be no greater error 
than to expect, or calculate upon, real favors 
from nation to nation. It is an illusion which 
experience must cure, which a just pride ought to 
discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these coun- 
sels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not 
hope they will make the strong and lasting im- 
pression I could wish ; that they will control the 
usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation 
from running the course Avhich has hitherto marked 
the destiny of nations ; but if I may even flatter 
myself that they may be productive of some partial 
benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now 
and then recur to moderate tlie fury of party spirit, 



54 AVASHINGTON'S FAEEWELL ADDRESS, 



to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigues, 
to guard against the impostures of pretended patriot- 
ism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the 
solicitude for your welfare by which they have been 
dictated. 

How far, in the discharge of my official duties, 
1 have been guided by the principles which have 
been delineated, the public records, and other evi- 
dences of my conduct, must witness to you and the 
world. To myself, the assurance of my own con- 
science is, that I have at least believed myself to 
be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, 
my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the 
index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving 
voice, and by that of your Rei^resentatives in both 
Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure 
has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any 
attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the 
best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 55 

our country, under all the circumstances of the 
case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty 
and interest to take, a neutral position. Having 
taken it, I determined, as far as should depend 
upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perse- 
verence, and firmness. 

The considerations wiiicli respect the right to 
hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this 
occasion to detail. I will only observe, that, accord- 
ing to my understanding of the matter, that right, 
so far from being denied by any of the belligerent 
powders, has been virtually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be 
inferred, without any thing more, from the obliga- 
tion Avhich justice and humanity impose on every 
nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to 
maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity 
towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest, for observing that 
conduct, will best be referred to your own reflec- 
tions and experience. With me, a predominant 



56 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDEESS. 

motive has been to endeavor to gain time to onr 
country to settle and mature its yet recent 
institutions, and to progress, without interruption, 
to that degree of strength and consistency which 
is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the 
command of its o^vn fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my admin- 
istration, I am unconscious of intentional error ; 
I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects 
not to think it probable that I may have com- 
mitted many errors. Whatever they may be, I 
fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate 
the evils to Avhich they may tend. I shall also 
carry with me the hope, that my country will 
never cease to view them wdth indulgence ; and 
that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to 
its service wdth an upright zeal, the faults of in- 
competent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, 
as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this, as in other 
things, and actuated by that fervent love towards 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 



57 



it wliicli is so natural to a man who views in it 
the native soil of himself and his progenitors 
for several generations, I anticipate, with pleasing 
expectation, tliat retreat in which I promise myself 
to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of 
partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the 
benign influence of good laws under a free Govern- 
ment — the ever favorite object of my heart — and 
the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, 
labors, and dangers. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

United States, 17th September, 1796. 



\"%< 



.^- N^ *-■ 






.A 






x^' 






''>- V 



o5 -'•c^ 



,0 O, 



OO' 









'>- V 



'^ ^^ ^ 






.V^ 



v\^' 






^?,/-^h-rf^ 



^^^^■ 



V ,/. 



a\^' ■' 



"^A V^ 



,0^ 









<?> 






,-is^^ .' 



s^^ -^^ 



-^^ .;^ 






...c^' 



vO 


o 




\ 


^. 


"n 

_< 




>^' 


n' .V ■ 




^ 


^*^ 



,0 o. 



^^■^ '''K 



.^ '''K 






OO 



.^-^ ''^> 






<>. >^^ 



,H -'•^ 



.0 a^ 






.^^■% 






''A V* 



\V .f, 






-^. 0, 



^^' 
.."i^ ''^^. 









/V 



-5=^ v^ 



^o<=.. 












^-.J- \^' 



.^ 



vV ,/>„ 












«i 






>0 O, 



%.^' 



.&^' ^^ 



A" 






■^A V*" 



, o 



3^ -^x. 



A r. 



^.v^~ 



<- •> 't 






-■':,- .^^'' 



v^"" ^^-.. 








./ 

■^^ 


^•^' 


^/.^^ 



.■•^'■ 



:.. .-iV 



.,^~^ -''^. 



,0 o^ 



/' 



■■'::. .<\^ 



<^^. 






^'j. V 



i- 



*5 '^'i- 



-vN 



>V .r. 



c-i 



■A" 



■"-^'^ -^ 



